My final D&D boardgame models for a little bit. I mean, there could (and probably will) be more of them in a week or so, and I’ve got another pair of the heroes started and a trio of villains ready to get to work on, but they’re not the top of the priority list until at least next weekend.

These Gnolls, like the previous post’s Bugbears are on the upper tier of the boardgame minis, being very much Nolzurs’-level sculpts. In the case of these Gnolls, I can appreciate a lot more of what the sculptor was trying to do, and my only real criticisms are with the PVC material that the sculpt was created in which turned several of the finer details into chewing gum.

The model was pretty obviously based on this piece of artwork, with the spear replaced with a bow. I’ve found this sort of thing to be pretty common with later licenced D&D minis -where a sculpt (often digital) is made to match the artwork, right down to the details of stuff on their belts, and then any variations are made from that, but with minimal variation. This is fine to an extent, but that’s something that (again) I have to credit GW for – their reused digital sculpt assets do have various accoutrements added to them in various combinations to make the individual models more unique – even on models like Space Marines or Stormcast! I’ll have some examples in later posts where I’ve found Nolzurs’ models that are pretty much the exact same digital sculpt as previous figures – only reposed.

As you can see, these Gnolls are big lads. I did have to check, and sure enough, in D&D they are large and in some sort of charge. My main experience with Gnolls has been in EverQuest, where they’re shorter than the average human and can be found in great numbers down in Blackburrow and also that place outside the halfling town from memory.The colours I used were broadly inspired by the artwork, but I varied them a little with the overall aim to keep them looking manky and dirty. Ratling Grime Contrast makes for a nice, dirty wash!